Hello, hello! :D

Man, have I missed writing for this story! It's been a while, I know, but isn't that the usual spiel? xD

Just a little warning, I know in my other story "Home Is", I spent a looooong time in Rivendell with the story (12 chapters... :P) and I want you to know, I'm not gonna take nearly that long this time :P I think I've got this chapter and then one more planned in Rivendell and then the journey will continue, I promise!

With that being said, here is a chapter for your reading pleasure! :)

.

Aelin was lying down on her back in a patch of soft grass near a flowing, sparkling river. She stared up at the tops of the trees behind her where she could see the flickering light of the sun peeking through the branches of the treetops. Its warmth fell down upon her body like a blanket and she felt at peace in its light. After taking a long deep breath, she let out a sigh of contentment. Everything felt so right.

Then a voice spoke beside her, "Are you well, my dear?"

With a smile, she turned her head to the side and looked at the Dwarf lying beside her, who was gazing fondly at her with his sapphire blue eyes.

"I am very well, Thorin," she answered. Now that she was looking at him, she then thought that everything in that moment didn't just feel right…but it felt perfect, too. It had been a long time since anything had felt this perfect to her.

Thorin inched himself closer to Aelin, propped himself up on one elbow beside her and then tenderly caressed her cheek and her sideburns while looking down at her with bright affection in his eyes. Aelin returned his gaze with equal feeling and she felt her smile growing even more.

He bent down and softly kissed her cheek. "You are so beautiful, Aelin," he whispered. Then he leaned over her and kissed her other cheek. As he came back up, he added, "I have never met anyone like you." He then lowered his head down again and this time pressed his lips gently to hers, igniting a spark within both of them.

Aelin sighed into the kiss and her hand found its way up into his hair, pulling him closer. The warmth she had felt before now grew stronger and she felt as though she could melt into him as he wrapped one arm around her waist. He was strong yet so gentle in his touch, something she hadn't quite imagined from him before.

The kiss then ended a little too quickly for her liking, but she still had a smile on her face. "Oh, Thorin…," she sighed just as she opened her eyes. "I can't believe this is real."

He smiled at her and lightly brushed away a strand of hair before resting his hand on her cheek. He said nothing but simply gazed at her.

Suddenly, there was a huge clap of thunder and Aelin gasped loudly as Thorin's hands all of a sudden grabbed at her throat. His eyes no longer looked at her with tenderness, but now with anger and almost madness. She clutched his wrists, trying to pry his hands off of her, but he was too strong. He increased his pressure on her throat, making her gasp desperately for air. The light from the sun above them was beginning to dim and the sky turned dark, as did everything else around them.

"Of course this is not real!" Thorin growled. "Did you really think I could ever care for someone like you…a cowardly, low-life thief?"

"No!" Aelin managed to gasp out. "That's not who I am anymore!"

"Liar!" he shouted and his voice echoed in the air. He lifted his hands from her neck and then, before Aelin's eyes, Thorin's body transformed into a raven, his arms turning into wings as he thrust them out to his sides. He let out a raven's call before his form twisted into a curtain of darkness and then disappeared.

Still gasping for air, Aelin stood up and looked around, her eyes wide with shock. The trees and the river were gone and she could no longer see the sky. Other than a single source of light illuminating the spot upon which she stood, there was nothing but blackness surrounding her. Her skin began to crawl and her body felt cold.

Then she heard another voice behind her; Nori's voice.

"I taught you how to be a thief and how to lie," he said as she saw him walk up behind her into the light. "You don't know what it means to tell the truth anymore. You even lie to yourself."

"That's not true!" she cried.

"Once a thief, always a thief, Aelin," he said as if to remind her before stepping back into the darkness.

She could feel herself on the verge of tears. "No! I've put that life behind me!"

Another figure appeared beside her and it was Dori. "How could you put that behind you when it is the only life you've ever known?" he asked. "All you have ever been is a conniving thief…after being abandoned by your father and cast aside by your mother, who knew she could never love you as her own."

On her other side, someone else appeared. This time it was Ori. "If not even your own parents could care for you…then what makes you think anyone else can?" he asked callously.

"No…no…no!" she muttered, frantically shaking her head as her tears of hurt and sorrow fell from her eyes.

She heard a sound behind her and, when she turned around, she saw Fili, glaring at her coldly. "I lied when I told you that you reminded me of my mother. My mother was never a liar nor did she keep secrets from us."

"But I have no secrets," said Aelin.

"That's not true, now is it?" asked Dwalin as he came next to Fili. "You are hiding something and you know it."

As he said this, Aelin felt a burning on both of her arms and she cried out in pain. She could see them glowing red underneath her sleeves. "No!" she exclaimed.

It was then that Kili appeared in the light beside his brother. "Thorin will not be very pleased with you if he knew what you were hiding."

Gritting her teeth to help cope with the pain, she replied, "I can't tell him…who knows what he will think of me if he knew…."

"Then he can't trust you…just as I warned him," Dwalin sneered.

"None of us can trust you," Fili added.

Then all around her, the remaining members of the company, including Bilbo and Gandalf, all appeared within the edges of the light, all of them staring at her with dead looks in their eyes and faces. The only one that Aelin couldn't see was Thorin. Her body trembled as she saw each member looking at her with such disdain, fearing for what was going to happen next.

As each person began to speak their voices were mixed with an eerie hissing sound which sent chills down Aelin's spine. They also withdrew each of their weapons and pointed them at her.

"You don't belong with us," said Bofur.

"You don't belong anywhere," said Gloin.

"You will never have a place in this world," then spoke Bilbo.

"You are alone...and you always will be," said Balin.

"You...are nothing," said Fili.

Aelin's crying was almost turning into sobs of despair. This is exactly what she feared: the company turning on her and casting her aside as nothing just as everyone else in her life had done. How could they do this? She didn't want to believe they really would, but seeing the cold looks in their eyes told her otherwise.

"This world would be better off without you," she then heard Kili say as he aimed an arrow at her.

"This company would be better off without you," Nori added.

Everyone else then unsheathed their weapons and pointed them in her direction and now, she felt trapped. There was practically no opening for her to try and run and she was defenseless. If she tried to run, she would surely be overpowered.

Just then, she heard the crow of a raven and it soared above her head and then down just behind Fili and Kili. With a whooshing sound, it transfigured back into Thorin. His nephews separated as he walked between them, angrily glaring at Aelin as he went towards her.

Even though she was sorely afraid, especially now seeing Thorin, she made one last desperate attempt to try and get someone to see the truth. "Please, Thorin…!" she begged, taking a step back. "Tell them that what they're saying isn't true. Tell them I am not the person they think I am!"

"Your words mean nothing to me!" Thorin bellowed as he stopped in front of her, making her jump back in fear. "I should never have let you into this company!" Thorin's voice then calmed slightly, but his tone was no less harsh. "Or better yet…," he continued, "…I should have executed you before Nori got you out of my dungeons."

Aelin choked on a sob, unable to say anything back.

His eyes narrowed and then, for his final words, he sneered, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"No…!" she bawled, feeling as though she had been struck in the heart by a thousand arrows.

He turned his back to her and was silent for a moment, but then he looked to his nephews. "Restrain her," he ordered them.

The two young Dwarves were too quick for Aelin and they seized her by the arms before she could get away. "No! No!" she shouted. "Fili, Kili, don't do this! Let me go!" She glanced back to Thorin who now had his sword in his hand and looked at her with a gaze full of bloodlust.

"Thorin, please! No!" she cried desperately. "You can't do this! I am your friend!"

"You mean nothing to me, thief!" he roared as he suddenly moved swiftly towards her.

"Thorin, NO!" she shrieked.

With a thunderous growl, Thorin thrust his sword right through Aelin's abdomen and she gasped loudly in both pain and shock.

With a fearful cry, Aelin jerked herself awake and jolted up in her bed, panting and gasping heavily. Her whole body was damp from cold sweat and she felt herself shaking. Hysterically, she looked around the room to make sure that what she was seeing was real. She was in her room in Rivendell and the light of the moon was shining in through the windows as well as her door, which was apparently open.

Still in a half daze from her dream, she could vaguely make out the sound of someone saying her name beside her. She turned towards the voice and felt a hand on her shoulder. She flipped completely around and wildly grasped at the pair of arms that appeared before her eyes, clutching the sleeves for the dear life as the person's hands held her elbows steady. When she looked up, she found herself looking into the face of Thorin Oakenshield, who was wearing just his blue shirt and trousers.

For a moment, she almost reared back in fear after what she had seen of him in her dream, but it was when she looked into his eyes that her mind changed. They were not glaring at her with bloodlust or rage. Instead, they were gazing at her with care and worry. In seeing that, she began to come more out of the daze she had been in and realized that she was fully awake…and all of this was real.

"Thorin…?" she asked hesitantly.

He nodded. "Aye, it's me," he assured her calmly, giving her a gentle squeeze on her arms. "It was all just a dream. You're all right."

It then occurred to her that she could still feel the ghostly sensation of Thorin's sword in her stomach. She pressed a hand to her stomach and looked down. There was no wound or blood to be found. Thorin hadn't stabbed her.

It had all been a horrible dream and now, she was back in reality.

Aelin glanced back up at Thorin and, with a whimper of extreme relief, she threw her arms around him, holding onto him as if he was her only anchor to the world, and wept into his chest, releasing all her fear and anxiety. This sort of behavior was new and unusual for her. Normally, she was very guarded about her emotions and wasn't always very open about them, especially when she was afraid or distraught about something. But after her frightening dream ended and seeing Thorin there, whom she was beginning to trust more than anyone, she let her guard down for once and let him see a part of her that hardly anyone ever saw. With him, she was slowly learning to break down her walls and let him and the others in. What she was now doing, crying so openly in front of Thorin, was a huge step for her in bringing down those walls.

Thorin was startled for a second, but then wrapped his arms protectively around her right away, holding her close against him to reassure her that he was there for her.

"It's all right, Aelin," he whispered, stroking her hair. "The nightmare is over. You're safe now."

Aelin didn't respond and just continued crying, still overwhelmed with the fear she had experienced from her nightmare. Thorin completely understood what she was going through and simply let her cry, all the while whispering words of comfort to her and rocking her back and forth as if she were a small, frightened child.

As she was starting to calm down a little, she asked him, "Thorin…how…how did you know I was having a nightmare?"

"I couldn't really sleep and so I was going to all the other rooms, checking on everyone in the company to see if they were well and asleep," he answered. "I was coming upon your room when I heard you crying out and then you suddenly screamed. I came in just moments before you awoke."

"You see…this is why I hardly sleep anymore," she stated with an emotional voice. "No matter what, I always have nightmares that haunt me and frighten me, even after many years! I can scarcely remember ever having a peaceful night's sleep through a good majority of my life."

Comfortingly, Thorin continued to stroke up and down her back to help soothe her anxiety. After another moment of letting her have her cry, she began to calm down and her hyperventilating turned to more steady yet still heavy breathing. It had surprised him to see her so open like this; to see her revealing her fears and despair to him in such a way. He hadn't thought he would see such open emotion from her just yet, but he could see that this dream had really taken a toll on her.

Once he could tell that she was calm enough, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it, Aelin? It seems like this nightmare really frightened you."

She sat back, pulling away from him, took a deep breath and quickly brushed away the stray tears on her cheeks. "I...I think this nightmare was the worst I've ever had," she told him.

"What happened?" he asked.

Aelin was hesitant at first. She wasn't used to sharing her nightmares with anyone other than Nori. But she could see in Thorin's expression that he really was genuinely concerned for her.

"I've already come to trust him greatly…why should that stop now?" she thought to herself.

"I was lying by a river," she went on to explain, "and it was a warm, beautiful day. Then suddenly you appeared…and you attacked me." She decided against telling him about what really had happened at the beginning of her dream. Despite the fact that she trusted him, she still didn't want him to know how she was starting to feel about him.

"I attacked you?" he asked.

She nodded. "Your hands were at my throat and you called me a cowardly, low-life thief. You then suddenly transformed into a raven and disappeared as everything around me turned to darkness except for a single light shining above me. Then the rest of the company appeared around me…and began to tell me all the things I've always heard in my dreams: that I don't belong anywhere, I'm a liar, no one could ever care for me…I am nothing…and I will be alone forever."

As she spoke, she could feel her anxiety beginning to build again. Her chest felt constricted and her voice was tensing up as she could feel herself reliving the nightmare as she retold it. There were tears forming again in her eyes and she started blinking rapidly to try and make them go away. One escaped from her eye and she hurriedly brushed it away.

Thorin laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. Take your time," he said to her.

After taking a minute to compose herself again, Aelin continued, "I kept hearing everyone say all those horrible things to me and then some; some even said the company would be better off without me. And then you reappeared in front of me with a look of almost pure hatred in your eyes. You said to me…that you should have never let me in this company…and that you should have killed me when you had the chance."

At hearing that, Thorin's head pulled back and his eyes grew wider in surprise.

Knowing she was about to tell the worst part, Aelin's lip began quivering and her voice strained as she told him, "Then the next thing I know…you took your sword…and you ran me through."

The look on his face grew even more shocked than it had been a moment before.

"You killed me…!" she said in a petrified whisper, remembering how it had felt to feel his sword go through her.

Thorin looked horrified at what Aelin had just told him, as if he had actually committed the act for real.

It was by this point that Aelin finally accepted that, now that she had opened up to him with her emotions, she just couldn't continue trying to keep calm because her attempts kept failing. She started to weep again and then asked Thorin, a hint of fear in her voice, "Is all of that true, Thorin? Has everything that has happened between us over the last couple days been a lie? Is that really how you feel?"

"No!" he replied, taking hold of her shoulders. "I promise you, nothing that has happened has been a lie! And it is just like what you told me a few days ago: I hated you before, but never enough to wish you dead. I never wanted to really kill you and I certainly do not want to now!"

Now she felt nearly embarrassed about thinking such a thing about him and she averted her gaze, letting the remainder of her tears fall onto her lap. "The fear behind my dream is still the same:" she said, "that the company will abandon me and want nothing to do with me anymore like almost everyone else I have ever known and I will be left alone again."

"Aelin, look at me," he told her in a calm, quiet tone, reaching up and very lightly touching her to chin to help prompt her to turn her head. Slowly, her head did turn and she looked at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. He then said comfortingly, "You will not end up alone again. I do not think there is anyone in our company that would ever think we would be better off without you."

She sniffed and replied a bit bitterly, "How can you be so sure?"

"I know every Dwarf in our company," he said back. "They are all fiercely loyal and they look after their own. I know Nori and his brothers wouldn't abandon you. My nephews would go up against half a dozen mountain trolls for you! I know they wouldn't abandon you either; they care about you very much. As for the others, I know they wouldn't do such a thing, as well. We are all together in this; we all look after each other. There is no need for you to fear…you will never be alone."

Aelin found a small feeling of comfort from Thorin's words, but only just an inkling. Her doubt still overpowered it deep within her, but she wasn't going to say anything. But then she timidly asked him, "And what about you…?"

In response, he reached up, tenderly swept away one of her stray tears and said with an empathetic look in his eyes, "I will not abandon you, either. As the leader of this company, I will not cast aside any of my followers…but also as your friend, I promise I will not case you aside. You are safe with us, you have my word."

A tiny smile of relief inched up on her face as she replied, "Thank you, Thorin."

He nodded wordlessly to her.

"Thorin…," she then started to say shyly. She wanted to ask something of him but was afraid that it would be overstepping her bounds or that he would find it a strange request.

"Yes?" he asked.

She wrung her hands together nervously, unsure now if she wanted to ask what she wanted. "Never mind," she then said. "It's nothing."

"What is it?" he urged.

She shook her head. "I was going to ask…if perhaps you would stay with me a while…because I'm afraid to go back sleep," she admitted. "But I doubt I will go back to sleep at all and you don't want to stay up the rest of the night with me, so you needn't worry."

"No," he simply said. "I would not mind. If you want me to stay, I will, if you feel it will help you feel any better."

Aelin was actually a bit surprised that Thorin so quickly obliged to her. Why was that so, she wondered. "But Thorin, you are the leader of the company. You need rest more than any of us," she argued.

He gave a nod and replied, "Aye, I am the leader and, as the leader, I must also put the wellbeing of my companions before my own. If I must sacrifice one night's sleep to help put your mind at ease, then I will do so."

A part of Aelin was overcome with gratitude that he would be so willing to help her…but there was also a smaller part that was a little disappointed that he was only doing this because he thought it was his duty to help her as her leader…and nothing else.

Of course, she knew better; she knew there wouldn't be anything else behind it. There was no possibility of Thorin ever accepting to help her because he cared for her as more than just a friend or travelling companion. Why she got her hopes up for even a second was beyond her comprehension. It was difficult to know that she was falling for someone who would, more than likely, never return those feelings.

"I just had to fall for Thorin Oakenshield, of all people…!" she inwardly chided herself.

She pushed those thoughts away and then proceeded to actually ask him, "So…will you stay with me…? I just don't want to be alone right now."

He kindly bowed his head and answered, "As you wish."

Aelin let out a sigh of relief.

Thorin then gestured to the empty space beside her on her bed and asked, "May I?"

She looked down at the bed and then back at him, confused.

He then explained, "I do not think I will be of much help in easing your discomfort by simply sitting in a chair beside your bed. Do not worry, I am simply suggesting that you let me lay down beside you so that I can be near you and help you feel safe."

Now that she heard his logic behind his request, she understood it and felt a little better about it. So she nodded toward him and then shifted over in the bed to give him some room. Thorin removed his boots and then climbed into the bed, pulling the sheets over him.

Once he was in, she moved closer to him until she felt her leg bump into his. Then it was her turn to ask, "May I?" as she motioned with her head down towards his shoulder. For whatever reason, she felt that lying as close as she could to him would help ease the distress she still felt from her nightmare; she felt that having him so close to her would give her a sense of security. Luckily, Thorin obliged and lifted his arm up and she shifted over until she was right up against him and laid her head on his shoulder. Once he could tell she was comfortable, he put his arm around her and held her gently.

Being so close to one another was strange and almost a little awkward at first for both Thorin and Aelin, but after staying that way for just a few seconds, the awkwardness died away quickly and they both easily relaxed into their current position. Neither of them had imagined they would ever find themselves in such a situation and yet, they were perfectly content with it at the present time.

Almost on instinct, Aelin lifted her hand and slowly; tenderly ran it back and forth on Thorin's chest, fiddling with the stray ties on his shirt every so often. Thorin did nor said nothing in reaction, so she assumed he was either ignoring it…or perhaps he didn't mind it. She could hear the faint thumping of his heart in her ear and it was a rather soothing sound. She was listening to the heartbeat of a King and yet it didn't sound any different from her own. In fact, it seemed like they were almost beating in tandem. How could that be? Was it because of their close proximity or…was it something else?

Once again, she turned those thoughts away from her mind. "You've got to stop thinking like that, Aelin!" she thought to herself. "If you keep tricking yourself into thinking he can ever feel the same way about you, then you're going to be in for a lot of heartache when you find out he doesn't and never will. You know he can't be with someone like you, so stop fooling yourself!"

To get her mind away from that and to try and break the silence, which was growing a bit awkward, she thought she would start up a conversation with Thorin, if he was up for talking.

"Thorin?"

"Mmm?"

"Will you…tell me about Erebor? I realized that I don't know very much about it."

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest, as well as hummed in Aelin's ear—which she found quite pleasant—and he replied, "That could take all night."

She shrugged and said, "I don't plan on going to sleep, so…if it must take all night, then I will have no objections."

"Very well, then," he said back. He exhaled loudly as a flood of memories of his home and visions of its grandeur suddenly all returned to his mind. "Erebor…is the greatest kingdom in Middle-Earth," he began to reminisce. "It has been the stronghold of the line of Durin for many generations, built deep within the Lonely Mountain itself. The beauty of the fortress city is legend; almost the entirety of it is crafted from smooth stone and marble and gold. Its wealth was found within the earth; in precious gems hewn from the rock and in great seams of gold, running like rivers through stone."

"It sounds extraordinary," Aelin commented.

"It truly was," Thorin replied. "And soon it will be again. I intend to see the glory of Erebor restored once we reclaim it."

He continued to talk more about Erebor and Aelin nestled closer to him as she listened. She was comfortable next to him and she felt so relaxed. As he kept going, however, she found her eyes were slowly starting to close. The steady breathing in his chest and the sound of his heartbeat as well as his smooth voice were soothing and helping her relax even more.

After a few minutes, Aelin fell back to sleep, with the sound of Thorin's voice saying, "Goodnight, Aelin," being the last thing she heard.

The next morning, when Aelin awoke, she was surprised to see that Thorin was still in the bed with her, sleeping, and that they were in the same position they had been in the night before. Why had he stayed? When she sat up, her movement stirred him awake.

"You…you're still here," she stated in slight disbelief.

He sat up next to her. "Of course, I am," he responded. "Why would I leave?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, she ended up stammering back.

Hearing her uncertain reply, he said, "I told you I would stay the whole night with you if it would help put you at ease."

"But you didn't need to, I fell back to sleep," she said.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a prompting look.

For a second, she was wondering why he was looking at her that way, but then it hit her. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "I fell back to sleep!" she repeated, this time in realization of both what she had said and what had actually happened.

As Thorin got out of the bed, he replied, "Aye, you did." Before Aelin could say anything else, he said, wandering to the window and putting his hands behind his back, looking very regal in his stance, "It is the start of a new day…and I sense that our time here is growing short." He then looked to her. "How do you feel? Do you think your leg is healed enough so that we may resume our journey soon?"

She looked down at her leg and realized that she hadn't thought at all about how it had felt since the day before when Thorin had helped her walk back to her room. Right now, it only stung just a tiny bit and she figured it probably would sting more when she walked again, but she knew it was probably better enough that she could walk right again quickly enough.

"I think at least a day more would suffice for me to work my leg enough so it'll be fully functional," she answered him.

"Very well," he said with a nod. He then walked back to the side of her bed and gave her a kind, inviting grin. "Shall I leave you to dress and then we will go walking again?" he then asked.

Aelin couldn't hide the pleased grin that grew on her face at his suggestion. It made her glad to know that he willingly wanted to continue helping her progress with her leg as well as spending time with her. "Aye, I like the sound of that," she answered.

Thorin gave her a courteous nod and then walked back to the door of her room. "I will wait outside," he told her. He opened the door, took one step and then stopped. Then he turned back and said, "I noticed something."

"What?" she asked as she moved to the side of the bed.

He grinned again and answered, "You slept quite peacefully last night." With that, he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

For a moment, Aelin wondered why Thorin had pointed that out to her. She sat on her bed and pondered what he meant by it. But then, like before, she was hit hard with realization.

She had slept peacefully…which meant her nightmares hadn't returned!

It had been the first time in many years that she had slept without having any bad dreams.

"How is this possible…?" she whispered out loud in disbelief.

Then she realized…it was all because of Thorin.

Everything he had done for her, from his comforting words to holding her in her bed to help console her anxiety, had resulted in them taking a bigger step in their friendship; in their relationship and she had found herself growing even more comfortable with him. She had felt safe with him; protected from the horrible nightmares in his embrace. His presence helped keep her relaxed and put her mind at ease.

Because of him, her nightmares, at least for the time being, had vanished.

If she hadn't already been smitten with him, she certainly was now. Thorin was just one of the kindest, most compassionate Dwarves she had ever met. She still regretted the feud that had lasted so long between them, but now that she was beginning to know the real Thorin; not the real Thorin she thought she knew from long ago, she was grateful for second chances.

But then she ran her hands over her face and groaned as her conflicted feelings resurfaced in her mind. "Oh, he must stop being so charming or I fear I will fall so far and so hard for him, I'll never find my way back up." Then she raised her eyes up to the ceiling. "Mahal help me get out of this hole I'm digging myself into."

Once again, wanting to get all her thoughts of Thorin out of her head, Aelin got out of bed, made her way over to her wardrobe and pulled out her clothes, feeling refreshed after a nightmare-less sleep and ready for a new day to begin.

.

This was something I'd been wanting to write for a little while now xD

So their relationship is progressing...where do you think it will go in the coming events?

Also, what do you think is Aelin's secret that her inner demons were taunting her about? I'm curious to hear your theories!

Have any guesses, comments, concerns or questions? You know the drill! ;) Review or PM me, my friends!

Until next time! :)